


Coffee and Curry

by criticaljohnson



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Grief, One-sided pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 05:50:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10870419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/criticaljohnson/pseuds/criticaljohnson
Summary: A character study of Sakura Sojiro in a series of vignettes.First up: Sojiro would always remember even the smallest details from the first day he’d met her. It was like that entire day was fixed forever in his memory.





	Coffee and Curry

Sojiro would always remember even the smallest details from the first day he’d met her. It was like that entire day was fixed forever in his memory. 

It had been a blazing hot summer day in a quiet Kyoto suburb, the remnants of the previous night’s booze-fuelled antics wreaking minor havoc on him in the form of a persistent headache. And the cicadas. The _goddamned cicadas_. They just wouldn’t shut up, their constant buzzing upgrading the pain in his skull from a minor annoyance to a deep, throbbing ache. 

The hell with them, Sojiro had thought to himself. They’d all be dead in a few months anyway. We’ll see who’s laughing then. Little green bastards. 

It’d been an uncomfortably long walk uphill from the parking lot, and underneath his favorite charcoal suit, his shirt was positively drenched. Sticking to his back in that way he absolutely hated. The moment he set foot into the research clinic, a blast of immaculately cold air blew his slick hair back and prickled against the beaded sweat on his forehead, but it didn’t set him at ease. His superiors at the agency had been breathing down his neck, the latest progress report from this place was long overdue, and he wasn’t going to leave today without a folder of data in hand. 

A nice, thick packet of folders, ideally – even if he had to pry them out of someone’s fat, sticky, grubby hands. Well, he’d threaten to revoke their research grants, if need be. That assistant director of research, the newly promoted one – Oyamada, right? The slimy bastard always had some clever excuse for failing to meet his disclosure obligations, but a missed deadline was a missed deadline, and not even he could weasel his way out of this one.

And then Sojiro’s train of thought came to a dead halt, because he’d walked right up to the usual meeting spot, the bank of elevators in the east lobby, the same spot Oyamada had always met him before walking him up to the conference room – only Oyamada wasn’t there. Instead, leaning up against the wall with a massive packet of papers in one hand and a well-worn, dog-eared book in the other was a woman. 

A downright beautiful woman, Sojiro thought to himself, doing a double-take at the sight of her. A jet black bob cut framed a perfectly proportioned face. Her eyes were a light, greyish shade of brown, her skin fair as he’d ever seen, her lips a delicate, feminine pink. She was dressed in all black despite it being the hottest part of the summer, her skirt was deliciously short, and – well, he could go on, but let’s just say she checked off just about every box on his list. Running his fingers through his hair to push it back into shape, Sojiro sauntered over to the woman with a grin on his lips and a swagger in his step. He was soaked through with sweat, his hair was probably messier than hell and the scent of his fancy cologne long since lost to the humid summer breeze, but minor things like that had never stopped him before and they sure as hell wouldn’t now. 

“Hey there,” he purred while putting on his best rogueish grin. “I’m Sojiro Sakura, from the Agency for Medical Research and Development. I don’t think we’ve met before. Might you be one of Oyamada-sensei’s residents?” No response. Literally none. She didn’t so much as look up at him. He felt his grin slipping a bit. “Or an intern, perhaps? I, uh, don’t mean to make you go out of your way, but if you could go and find him–”

“Shut up, would you? Don’t interrupt me right now. Come back in five minutes. Maybe ten, I don’t know. This ending’s really dragging on.” 

For the first time in years, Sojiro found himself stricken speechless. The woman hadn’t even looked up from her book while delivering that absolutely stunning rejection. Her voice hadn’t been angry, per se, but certainly annoyed. For the first time he realized how intently she’d been gazing at that book she was holding. The cover had some strange image of a man’s face on it, and the title – was that in English? Neu-ro-man-cer, Sojiro sounded out in his head, trying to call to mind those distant and foggy lessons on English pronunciation back in high school. What the hell kind of title was that? Sojiro had thought she was his type, a real yamato nadeshiko, even! A bona-fide Japanese beauty! But the acidic wit behind those half-rimmed glasses was anything but, and had caught him completely off guard. He had no idea what to say in response. 

Unsure of how to proceed, and not wanting to provoke the mystery woman’s wrath any further, Sojiro sheepishly inclined his head in a mild bow. If she noticed, she gave no sign, so he turned around and sat his ass down in one of the posh leather chairs in the lobby. Pretty comfortable, he realized as an afterthought. But mostly, he just focused on watching her. Her fingers turned the pages at an absolutely frightening speed. Was she – was she really reading THAT fast? Her eyes were darting back and forth across the yellowed pages, their movement almost too fast for his own to reliably track. Normal people definitely didn’t read that fast. What kind of book devouring monster was this woman? 

And just like that, he jumped in his seat as she furiously chucked the book across the room, right at him. His years as a starter on the baseball team hadn’t been for show, so it was easy enough for him to catch the book right out of the air, but nothing prepared him for the tongue-lashing that came after. “What the HELL,” the mystery woman glowered, prancing over to him with murder in her eyes. “What a shitty ending! I can’t believe those idiots on Usenet actually recommended this tripe. I mean, so unsatisfying! So 1980s! I want my 100 yen back!” 

“I, uh, I’m sorry? Should I…should I throw it away for you?” Sojiro asked, meekly and lamely. 

And just like that, the frown broke, and she was…she was grinning. That was the moment Sojiro realized how completely and utterly he’d lost. “Nah, I’m over it. Just had to get it out of my system. Keep it if you like. It’s really not that bad, I’m just very picky. Wakaba Isshiki, by the way,” she rapidly spoke as she held out a hand for him to shake and acted like this was all a completely normal way of introducing yourself. Maybe it actually _was_ normal for her? 

“Pleasure to meet you, Isshiki-san. Isshiki…wait, you’re—” And then Sojiro Sakura found himself dumbstruck for the second time in half an hour, as he realized that the woman standing in front of him was none other than the Head of Research. For this whole facility. “Oh hell. I’m, uh, I’m very sorry for not showing the proper respect, Isshiki-sensei. We’ve, well, we’ve never met before, and I wasn’t expecting…” He was fumbling and he knew it. He couldn’t even stop. 

“Why don’t you just quit before you dig yourself any deeper into that hole you’re in?” she asked, looking every bit the cat that ate the canary. The fattest, most savory canary in Japan. Sojiro let out a long-suffering sigh. 

“I…yes. Please accept my apologies,” Sojiro inclined his head again. “I’m, uh, here for the latest progress report. It should have been submitted to my office by the fifteenth, but Oyamada-sensei—”

“Is a useless, simpering buffoon. Don’t worry, I put him on janitorial duty for the rest of the week when I found out that he hadn’t been meeting AMED’s deadlines. It won’t be an issue again. In fact, I think I’ll be handling these meetings myself from now on, Sakura- _kun_.” Oh god, Sojiro thought to himself. He was in deep. It was like his sophomore year crush on the student council president all over again. 

“I’m…pleased to hear that,” he said lamely.

“Oh, and here’s your data,” she added offhandedly, while shoving that massive stack of papers she’d been carrying into his arms. “It won’t make for the most entertaining of reading, seeing we’re still in the very early stages of the trial, but everything you’ve asked for is there.” 

Before he had the chance to register his surprise, she had closed the remaining distance between them, and was up on her tiptoes, looking right into his face. He bit back the urge to step back. This woman had to be some kind of demon. 

“Say, my duties for the day are done. What are you doing after this? No plans? Good!” she laughed in delight before Sojiro had even the briefest of moments to answer. “There’s this awesome little izakaya that just opened up a few blocks from here, and they run a special menu when it’s still light out. Supposedly the best yaki udon in the city. It’ll be my treat, to apologize for Oyamada giving you the run-around and for throwing that garbage book at you. What do you say?” 

He should have said no. There were a thousand reasons to say no. The stifling heat outside had made him sweat like a sumo wrestler, and the interior of a cozy little bar would be even worse than that. Then there was the whole “no fraternizing with professional contacts” policy at AMED. The image of his boss’s face after finding out he’d been drinking during business hours sent literal shivers down his spine. And, hell, worst of all – there was the fact that he knew he was falling for this woman, and falling fast. Falling like he hadn’t since he was a snot-nosed kid looking at the baseball team’s manager and seeing a woman instead of another snot-nosed kid for the very first time. Oh, he was in deep.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll drive.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a thing that happened. I hadn't meant to write this, but I cooked up some Japanese style curry for dinner tonight while playing Beneath the Mask in the background, and then before I knew it I ended up at my desk with a bottle of whisky in hand and an outline of this monstrosity coming to life. 
> 
> To me, Sojiro is one of the most compelling characters in P5. Maybe even the most compelling. Very few people are writing about him yet, so I hope that I will do him justice. 
> 
> A few notes:  
> (1) When characters give their full names, I've had them give them in Western order. That is, given name, then family name. If this bothers people, I don't mind changing it.  
> (2) To a few people that I know have subscribed to me waiting for a long-promised Fire Emblem Awakening story, my apologies. It's still in the works, I promise! But Persona 5 has grabbed me in a way that no game has in a very long time.  
> (3) I know Sojiro comes off as pretty douchey when he approaches Wakaba for the first time. It's intentional. Remember that this is Japan in the early '90s. It was a pretty misogynistic place, and Sojiro himself tells us that he was something of a ladykiller when he was younger. Don't worry, he'll learn him some respect.  
> (4) My apologies to fans of William Gibson and Neuromancer. Don't hurt me.  
> (5) Expect a forthcoming change to that highly uninspired title. It's just a placeholder.  
> (6) This will be in multiple chapters. Some longer, some shorter. I make no promises as to length or an update schedule. All I can say for sure is that there will be more, at some point in the future. 
> 
> Finally, my apologies for the poor quality of writing. It's been a very long time since I've written anything other than DnD encounters. I hope to bring my writing back up to snuff, and to that end, I welcome all criticism. Seriously, all of it. Don't hesitate. Tear it apart. I won't be offended!


End file.
